So, I was firing up a smallish, 1 liter starter of Denny's Fav 50 a couple weeks back. As I was getting ready to decant the liquor I thought, y'know that's gotta be right around 4%. Be a shame to waste it. I mean, that's session beer territory and I could go for one after my evening workout. Looked around and remembered that I'd never put away that bag of home grown Columbus hops from the last brew day. So, I decanted the liquor into my 20oz water bottle, poured in a healthy amount of Columbus cones, squished them a bit to get them thoroughly hydrated, and left it for an hour or two, inverting the container periodically between sets of the workout. Drank about half of it that evening (within a few hours of adding the cones), room temp, and let the other half sit overnight in the fridge, cones still in the container.
I don't know what I was expecting, precisely, but it was surprisingly tasty. I mean, really tasty. Refreshing. Clean. Fresh. Lightly carbonated (probably pulled the starter before it was completely done, as it was building a bit of pressure in the water bottle). Best part, was that it totally captured the great aroma that I get from the Columbus that never seems to fully translate into the beers I've made. Screamed summer to me. As good at room temp as it was chilled. It's definitely making me rethink how I use Columbus. Might have to try a SMASH with a basic 2-row or something bland, heavily or entirely hopped after flameout; perhaps only dry hopped (gasp!). If the latter, I'd probably be inclined to dry hop during active fermentation, but I'll have to ponder that a bit. I'm also going to have to give this a try with other varieties of hops.
Very very intriguing...
Elliot
I don't know what I was expecting, precisely, but it was surprisingly tasty. I mean, really tasty. Refreshing. Clean. Fresh. Lightly carbonated (probably pulled the starter before it was completely done, as it was building a bit of pressure in the water bottle). Best part, was that it totally captured the great aroma that I get from the Columbus that never seems to fully translate into the beers I've made. Screamed summer to me. As good at room temp as it was chilled. It's definitely making me rethink how I use Columbus. Might have to try a SMASH with a basic 2-row or something bland, heavily or entirely hopped after flameout; perhaps only dry hopped (gasp!). If the latter, I'd probably be inclined to dry hop during active fermentation, but I'll have to ponder that a bit. I'm also going to have to give this a try with other varieties of hops.
Very very intriguing...
Elliot